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Press Release: Skillz Announces $15M Series B to Bring eSports to Mobile Games

Leading NFL and NBA Owners Invest in Skillz and the Future of eSports

September 24, 2015

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Skillz, the worldwide leader in mobile eSports, today announced that it has raised $15 million in Series B funding. The round was led by David Bonderman’s Wildcat Capital Management with The Kraft Group, owners of the New England Patriots and Marc Lasry, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks, participating in the round.

“We see eSports as the future of sports,” said Len Potter, Chief Investment Officer at Wildcat Capital Management. “Mobile is rapidly becoming the most popular gaming platform in history, and Skillz is at the forefront of competitive mobile gaming.”

The Series B announcement follows a year of exceptional growth for Skillz, a platform technology company powering eSports competitions for over 1,100 mobile game studios. The company recently announced that it has added over 4 million new players in the last 12 months.

“With more people playing video games than all physical sports, eSports are achieving mainstream adoption, and Skillz is leading the way,” said Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry. “It’s easy to imagine the day when eSports competitions share the same court as the Milwaukee Bucks.”

Skillz has now raised over $28M in total financing and plans to use the new capital to market the platform, roll out its recently announced live events technology, and grow its teams in Boston and San Francisco.

“With David Bonderman and the owners of professional sports franchises like the New England Patriots and Milwaukee Bucks behind us, we are shaping the intersection of digital and physical sports and defining the future of competition,” said Andrew Paradise, founder and CEO of Skillz.

About Skillz

Skillz, the leading mobile eSports platform, connects the world’s 2.6 billion mobile gamers through competition. In 2017, Skillz was named the #1 fastest-growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine, the first eSports company on CNBC’s Disruptor 50, and the only eSports company on the San Francisco Business Times Fast 100. Over 12 million gamers use Skillz to compete in mobile games across 3,000+ game studios. Founded in 2012, Skillz is headquartered in San Francisco and backed by leading venture capitalists as well as the owners of the New England Patriots, Milwaukee Bucks, New York Mets and Sacramento Kings. To learn more, visit www.skillz.com.